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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

A New Friend

When I started this blog it was little more than an online journal
in which I could share stories of the boys with people I didn’t see often. As
I started writing more and reading more about blogs, I had an idea while trying
to find a brand for my blog—
something to make it stand out and give it a more single purpose. I could help
two very specific types of people: stay-at-home moms or dads with epilepsy, and
people who have families in small spaces.

While I still do plenty of simply telling silly stories, I’m
also glad to know that I’ve helped people. A couple months ago a woman called
me after having found my blog in an online search for stay-at-home moms with
epilepsy. She recently started having more and more seizures and she and her
husband had come to the realization, just like Brian and I eventually did— that
it isn’t safe for her to drive, even if she legally is cleared by the DMV.They, however, don’t live in a walkable
location, and amazingly, they live only about an hour from us. So they’re in
the process of relocating to a place where the quality of her life and the lives of her daughters will not be
diminished by her inability to drive.

We met this Saturday and Brian and I tried to sell her and
her husband on Reston. We went to a Reston playground, ate at a Reston
restaurant, and treated them to a tour of a fine Reston condo, tastefully adapted
for a family of four (ha!). I was happy to know that they had read about some
of my suggestions and even bought the same phone that we bought, in order to
prepare their daughters for a seizure emergency.

The whole experience has been so cool. I’ve only met three other people with epilepsy, and never another stay-at-home mom. Writing
about my experiences and tossing my scribblings out to whomever may stumble upon
them online, has helped at least one person in my shoes, and that’s a cool feeling.
I'm so thankful that she contacted me. Sometimes I’m not sure anyone is listening, but this kind of response is
rewarding. I hope there are even more people I've helped.And I also got a new friend. A new Reston friend…?

4 comments:

Great post. A very cool story for sure. I wish we had taken a picture of our families together. I thought about that after we left. We will keep you posted on the move. Looks like Reston IS the frontrunner :) Take care, Brooke

I live in the lovely Reston, Virginia, outside Washington, DC in a cozy two bedroom, two bathroom condo with my husband, twin six year-old boys, and a two year-old boy. It's a tight squeeze! I'm from Idaho. I like to write. I love a good strong backrub at the end of the day. Let me tell you a story.